Roasted Lemon-Garlic Green Beans

August 8, 2012

There are two staples I have in my kitchen at all times: lemons and garlic.

I love lemons and always buy a surplus when I go grocery shopping. I even have a giant bowl of lemons as a year-round centerpiece. I never like my lemon centerpiece bowl to look empty, so I cheat with fake lemons. My husband made fun of me for so long because when I moved in with him, I brought fake lemons. He said that the day I brought fake fruit into our house was the day his bachelorhood died.

Side note: When it was time to do our wedding registry, he was the one that suggested we register for fake limes… “You know, to go with the lemons.”

Big bulbs of garlic are always right there next to the lemons in my shopping cart. When I lived at home and would take a night to cook for my parents, my mom always complained about my use of garlic. I always seem to add a little bit to everything I cook. All you need is one clove and it adds just the right amount of that special something. Plus, then you aren’t the only one at the dinner table with garlic breath. That’s love!

With those two staples, a little olive oil, and a little salt and pepper, you can add your pick of fish, meat, pasta, or any fresh produce, and be set for weeks.

Keep those staples around at all times. Trust me. Adding some beautiful ribbons of lemon zest and some roasted garlic makes a side dish as mundane as green beans seem a little more special.

Ingredients (Serves 4-6 as a side)

½ lb. Green Beans, rinsed and trimmed

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Dash of Salt and Pepper

1 Clove of Garlic, minced

Zest of 1 Lemon (you don’t have to zest it in long ribbons, I just thought it added a bit of panache)

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with foil, or don’t if it’s a crappy baking sheet you already jacked it up with over-use.

Add the cleaned and trimmed green beans along with the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the baking sheet.

Using your hands or a pair of tongs, toss all the ingredients together. Make sure the green beans are in one even layer on the baking sheet.

Roast in the oven for twenty minutes. The beans will still have a good crunch and color to them. Beans will last up to a week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

If you ever get a chance to be in the San Francisco Bay Area in July, make sure you get down to a little town about an hour south of San Jose called Gilroy, where there’s a garlic festival annually. I’ve always threatened to go down there to sell Altoids for $7 a canister.

If Mike sees a whole lemon or lime in the background of a picture I take he always asks, “Real or Fake?” then proceeds to brag about the superb quality of our fake fruit. Men are so strange. I’m glad my man isn’t the only one!